Representatives of Vinalatex pose for a photo at the event of handing a charity house to a family in Dinh Thuy Commune, Mo Cay District in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre – PHOTO: VINALATEX

The gifts maybe do not carry high values, but what Vinalatex has done to support the poor are valuable: they have managed to spread the message of compassion.

The young company, which was established in 2015 and started operation in 2016 as a producer of rubber pillows and mattresses, started to engage in corporate social responsibility actvities just one year later. Vinalatex, then a 30-strong company, sought to raise funds for building houses for the poor, rallying all staff in the company to contribute to the charitable cause.

“With compassion towards poor people, the company’s management wish to share difficulties by lending a helping hand,” says Nguyen Dong Thanh, director of the company. Thanh reveals that most members of the company’s management used to be workers and have faced hardship during the early days of the company’s establishment, so “we have deep understanding with the difficulties faced by poor people.”

The company started to collect funds for building the first house for the poor in 2017, and on February 7, 2018, Vinalatex handed the house to a family in Dinh Thuy Commune of Ben Tre Province’s Mo Cay District. The next charity house was completed in 2018, and this time the beneficiary was a poor family in Tan Phu Commune of Long An Province’s Duc Hoa District. The house was handed over on January 18 this year.

“The company’s management has agreed to make the house donation program an annual one, and the number of houses to be built for the poor will depend on the company’s business development,” reveals the CEO of the small joint-stock company.

For each house built for the poor, the company donates VND35 million. However, it is the collaboration between the company, its staff and local residents that make the donation significant.

“When we start building a house, local residents nearby will also offer their help, which could be certain secondhand items as amenities for the new house, or simply labor to improve the house,” Thanh confides to The Saigon Times. Apart from the money for building the house, Vinalatex also donates products manufactured by the company, such as pillows, mattresses, or blankets.

Whenever a house is handed over, the company’s management as well as all employees feel happy, says Thanh. “The tearful smile of those people upon receiving the new house has been a reminder for us to further develop our business so that we can have more money to continue the house donation program,” Thanh utters his feeling.

According to Thanh, workers in the company are encouraged to make contributions, but on a voluntary basis. However, “the enthusiasm by all workers to contribute to the company’s CSR program makes me feel warm and happy,” says Thanh, relating how certain employees besides financial contributions have also collected defective products from the company and repaired them to donate to poor people.

Since its commencement of operations in 2016, the company has seen its business gradually expand, with the workforce more than doubling to 70 people now. Alongside the business development is the company’s increasing contribution to the society, which although still modest has served as a seed of compassion, first among the company’s workforce.